Wind Rose hails from Italy and plays folk/power metal band (their sound is also described as dwarven metal – And indeed the dwarfs of The Hobbit are a great inspiration for Wind Rose. Having toured with bands like Wintersun, Eluveitie and Ensiferum. Their third album “Stonehymn” is released on May 26th in Europe and North America via Inner Wound Recordings, an album filled by the epic, powerful and folk inspired brand of power metal the band is known for.
Recently they played at Masters Of Rock (CZ), Bloodstock Open Air (UK) & in November they will enter the stage of Brainstorm Fest here in The Netherlands.
Following below is an interview with guitarist Claudio Falconcini.
TMR: Hello Claudio this is The Metal Resource from Holland, how are things going there in Italy?
Hello everyone it’s nice to be here answering your questions!
TMR: Will you Introduce yourself and the band please.
The band is: Claudio Falconcini guitarist, Francesco Cavalieri vocalist, Federico, Meranda keyboardist, Cristiano Bertocchi bassist, Daniele Visconti drummer.
TMR: How did you get into metal?
I got into metal ‘cause my father once bought an used copy of “Images & Words” by Dream Theater. I was a child and fell in love with that album, so I decided to start playing guitar. Developing my skills in playing guitar I also started to appreciate many other bands like Symphony X and Blind Guardian, so this became a real passion and I started buying many records.
TMR: What is your musical background ?
I love many kinds of music; I mainly listen to progressive metal, folk metal, epic soundtracks, western movies soundtracks and games’ soundtracks. I also like death metal, deathcore and metalcore; I like to discover many new bands each day. There are also a lot of non-epic and non-metal things I’m into, like country music and commercial house!
TMR: Tell us the brief history of Wind Rose.
Wind Rose was born when Daniele, Federico and I decided to start composing our own material in 2009. Before that year we were a sort of a Dream Theater cover band, which helped us a lot in learning to play our instruments. We gladly found Francesco and the previous bassist Alessio and so our career officially started. In 2013 we peacefully parted ways with Alessio, so Cristiano entered the band as the new bassist; we already knew him as he worked with us before as a producer.
TMR: Why the name Wind Rose ? Is there a story behind it ?
We decided to call the band Wind Rose because we love journeys and everything related to them; more, our songs range over many styles of music, so it’s like we take a long journey everytime we write new music. The first time I got the idea to name the band “Wind Rose” was when I saw the Middle-Earth map in the book: there was an awesome representation of a wind rose and so I said “why not?”!
TMR: Who writes the music/lyrics in Wind Rose ? … how do you get in the mood for writing music? And which bands/situations have influenced you for writing music and lyrics ?
Federico is the main composer of the music and Francesco is the main composer of the lyrics; I help them on both music and lyrics. We get in the mood by picturing in our minds what the song is about and where the story we are telling is set; it’s like we have to write a soundtrack for a movie pictured in our minds. The bands that influenced our songwriting the most are Turisas, Wintersun, Equilibrium; I have to mention Blind Guardian too, mainly for the lyric themes and for the usage of the volal choirs.
TMR: What are some key principles or phylosophies that you hold onto as foundational stones as who you are as a person?
I think that the richest person is the one who thinks that the real wealth isn’t money but experiences and emotions. I also think that all the people are the same, there are no races. I also am a fervent atheist.
TMR: Is there a highlight you will always remember, since the beginning (2009) of Wind Rose?
Yes of course; the year 2015 was probably the best in my life so far, and it’s mostly due to the two tours we had and to the summer festivals of that year. This is probably due also to the fact that those were the first long experiences we had, emotions ran like trains!
TMR: And the worst thing were ? (if there is one)
The worst thing in general is when you do all the possible to reach the goal but nothing concrete happens; have to deal with this many times, but it also gives you motivation.
TMR: What is your favorite drink and food ?
Orange Juice and Nutella!
TMR: So what makes you laugh?
Mainly non-sense humor. We use to picture in our minds stupid things and well, they really make me laugh a lot!
TMR: What is your biggest fear?
Not being able to fulfill my goals in life is my biggest fear.
TMR: What is the last album you bought?
Wintersun – Time 1, had to have it in my collection, one of the best pieces of music of the last decade!
TMR: What are some of the things you like to do away from the band?
I love astronomy, I use to attend some lessons about how the universe works. I also like digital illustrations, I make all the designs you see in the band (except for the cover artworks, but I’m working on it!).
TMR: Speaking of recording, your latest album “Stonehymn” is released on May 26th. What more can you tell about it? [such as the recording process, the songs/lyrics etc.]
The album was written between March 2015 and October 2016, the lyrics were written in November 2016. It was recorded starting from November 2016 to February 2017. We firstly recorded the vocals, later the drums and then all the rest; it was a really hard work as there were a lot of tracks speaking about keyboards and vocals. We also had to hire additional singers to give the choirs a bigger impact: we hired Tommaso Corvaja (bass- baritone) and Silvia and Clara Ceccarelli (soprano and mezzo-soprano).
TMR: The album is released through Inner Wound Recordings. How did you get signed by them ?
I got in touch with the chief of the label in March 2016 and he was interested in our projects; I’m really glad we signed a deal with them as they are working in a perfect way. We really understand each other all the time and we manage things together to make them come out the best way possible.
TMR: About the cover artwork. Do you think it is as important as your music? Does it visualize the lyrics of your songs or what’s the actual story behind its concept?
Yes of course, the cover artwork is one of the most important things in an album; it is needed to make the listener understand what your music is about already starting from the first impact. We use to do a draft of the cover artwork before writing the songs, so that we firmly have in mind what the result should be.
TMR: How do you promote your band and shows ?
We use a friendly approach on the social networks, sometimes making funny jokes, so that people enjoy the material we are posting on our pages and they share the contents with their friends. Designs are the most important thing to promote a band and an event in my opinion.
TMR: Tell us about the hardrock/metal scene in your area please?
First of all you should know that rock and metal are weird things for the standard Italian. By the way I think that there are more metal bands than rock ones, but a rock band that sings in Italian has more chances to emerge. There are many metal bands as I said before, but innovation is not our strength; that’s probably why Italian metal bands are not so used to emerge from the underground… We are working on it btw!
TMR: How do you prepare for a show?
In the previous days we meet many times to rehearse the songs we will play live, sometimes we also wear the dwarves’ clothes while rehearsing in order to feel the most comfortable possible while we are on stage.
TMR: What is your favorite Wind Rose song to play live?
Fallen Timbers from Stonehymn, aka “the endless headbanging”. That song is a blast of energy, I really have a lot of fun while I’m on stage playing that song.
TMR: What is your favorite concert that you saw and what made it so good?
Wintersun live in Barcelona in 2013. They are war machines, everything is perfect and has a blasting impact. Jari is a monster on the guitar and vocals both, the other musicians are also really capable. Can’t wait to see them again with the new guitarist!
TMR: What is the most embarrassing music on your phone or in your collection and how do you justify it to others?
David Guetta. I have no excuses to tell the others, I simply like his music 😀
TMR: As a band today, what do you think is the biggest challenge you face?
The biggest challenge is that you never know if the time has come to work as a musician quitting your other jobs; it’s a never ending uncertainty that can bring you sadness sometimes. By the way we don’t think about it and we carry on doing what we love the most in life.
TMR: You will play this summer at Bloodstock Open Air (UK), are there more upcoming concerts / festival performances in Europe? Other plans for the near future ?
We will also play a festival in the Netherlands in November. There are also some shows we are working on that will be announced soon!
TMR: Claudio thanks for your time and the interview. We wish Wind Rose all the best… Is there anything you wanna say at last ? [any final statement ?]
Thanks for your interview and hope to meet you at some concerts in the future!
Upcoming Shows:
08.09.17- Sinistro Fest Open Air, Cerreto Guidi, IT
04.11.17- Brainstorm Festival, Gigant Apeldoorn, NL
Weblinks: Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter
Video for ‘To Erebor’
Video for ‘The Breed of Durin’